Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for generating environment information on an operating environment of a mobile robot as information for use in controlling operations of the mobile robot.
Description of the Related Art
For causing a mobile robot to move in a variety of environments, environment information indicating a spatial arrangement state of a surface portion of an external object existing in an operating environment of the mobile robot, such as a floor, ground, or wall surface, installed article etc., is required for operation control of the mobile robot. (The environment information specifically indicates a spatial position and posture of a flat portion included in the surface portion of the external object, or geometry of the surface portion, or a position and direction of an edge formed on the surface portion.)
As a technique of generating such environment information, generally, a technique of generating environment information by measuring an arrangement state of a surface portion of an external object using external-object recognition sensor such as a laser range finder, camera, or the like (capable of measuring a distance to each portion of the external object) mounted on a mobile robot is conventionally known, as described for example in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-223628 (hereinafter, referred to as “Patent Literature 1”).